Improvement in cane-harvesters



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

IV. B. ROBERTSON, OF WEST RATO).T ROUGE, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CANE-HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part nf Letters Patent No. 31,406, dated February 12, 1861.

To all whom, it may concern/ Beit known that I, XV. B. ROBERTSON, of the parish of Vest Baton Rouge, in the State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and .useful Improvements in Cane-Harvesters; and

I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the improved machine. Fig. 2 is atop view of the same. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the double moldboard plow, showing the wings of the same hinged to it.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the three figures.

This invention is intended for cutting sugarcane and throwing it down in rows, to be afterward gathered and stacked up for use.

It consists in the employment of two horizontalknives, with two fenders or guards arranged a suitable distance above the knives, in conjunction with a double turn-plow, said knives being made adjustable both vertically and horizontally, and said fenders being made adjustable horizontally, for the purposes and as will be hereinafter fully described.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I-will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Ais abeam of a suitable length and strength, and A A are the handles, which are secured to the beam A.

B is a standard, which is secured to the rear end of beam A, projecting down therefrom as low as the sole of the plow, or lower, if desirable.

O is a double ,mold-board plow with a fiatV sole, and with narrow inclined shares. To the rear edges ofthe mold-boards of this plow are hinged, in a suitable manner, two wings, C O', which diverge from the plow O and extend back a suitable distance. The lower edges of these wings C C are turned outward, so as to :form shear-edges, as represented in Figs. l, 2, and 3 of the drawings. The rear ends of the wings C C are connected to the foot of standard B by jointed sector-bars a a, which are perforated, that they may be lengthened or shortened at pleasure, so as to increase or diminish the distance between the rea-r ends of the wings C O.

D is a sole-plate, which projects out from the rear end of plow O, and secured rigidly to the foot of standard B, thus serving as a longitudinal brace for both the standard B and plow O, and also serving as a bearing for the rear part of the machine to prevent the weight of the machine from resting on the wings O' O. For this purpose the rear part of the soleplate 'D should be depressed so that it will be below the horizontal plane of the lower edges of the wings C G.

In front of the plow O, and passing vertically through beam A, is an adjustable bar, E, which may be raised or depressed by means of a lever, b, which is connected to the upper end of bar E by a link, b. Lever b has its fulcrum in a suitable standard on top of the beam A. rIhel bar E is Xed rigidly to the beam A, where it is properly adjusted by a transverse bolt, c, which passes through the beam and through holes in bar E. To the lower end of this bar E the front end of two horizontal knifebars, F F, are pivoted, and from this pivot the knife-barsFFeXtend back in diverging lines and project out a suitable distance from the rear end ofthe machine. The

knifebars F F are carried along each side of the wings C O, and they project out from the sides of these wings some distance. .The knifebars F F are curved at their front ends ashort distance, and to each bar a horizontal knife, d, is bolted, the edge of which knife proj ects out from the outer edge of its respective bar. These knives d d are curved like their knifebars, and extend from the front to the rear ends of the knife-bars.

Near the rear end of beam A, and passing A vertically through this beam, is an adjustable bar E', which is similar in its construction and operation to bar E. This bar F/ is raised and depressed by a lever, bf, on top of beam A. To the lower end of this latter bar F/ is securely fixed a transverse plate, G, which projects out equal distances on each side of bar E. On the ends of this horizontal transverse plate G the knife-bars F F rest, and theseknifebars are connected to this plate G by rods ff.,

Rods ff are connected to the plate G by bolts and nuts, and, as the plate G has a number of perforations through it, the rods ff may be adjusted and secured at different points to the plate G. Thus the distance between the rear ends of the knives may be increased or dimished at pleasure. The slotted levers H H may be used to adjust the rear ends of the knives in lateral direction, if it is desirable.

The knives can be adjusted vertically by raising or depressing the barsE E from which the knives are hung.Y As the knife-barsF F rest on the extreme ends of the plate G, they are supported in a rm and steady position.

Above the knives d d are two curved rods, J J, the front ends of which are pivoted at g to the beam A, and from this point g the rods J J diverge toward the rear end of the machine, forming guards or fenders for preventing the horses from being injured by striking the knives. ject out beyond the edges of the knives, and they are arranged ina horizontal plane above the knives a suitable distance to serve the desired purpose. The rear ends of these fenders are connected to a transverse bar, K, which is secured to the top of and near the rear end of beam A by `jointed rods It la'. These rods h 71 are transversely adjustable on bar K,

li'or the purpose of keeping the fenders at aproper relative distance to the knives d d, so that when the rear ends ofthe knives are distended the rear ends of the fenders may also be distended. The fenders J J have the 'same curvature as the knives d (l, and the rear ends ot' the fenders project out beyond the rear ends of the knives. These fenders J J, besides serving as guards for the knives, perform two other important oiliccs, in that they press the standing stalks over so that they will be more readily cut by the knives d d, and they also throw off the stalks when they are cut by the knives d d, so that the rows of stalks will fall from the machine.

".lhe operation of my improved cane-cutting machine is as follows: The wings C C, knives dd, and fenders J J are all adjusted according to the distance between the rows of cane which is to bc harvested. Theknives l d are adjusted vertically according to the height it is desired, and these' knives l d may be depressed more at their front ends than at their rear ends, or vice versa, by means of the levers b b, which are used to raise or depress the re- These 'fenders J J pro! and in this condition the knives l d sever them.

The fenders J J then throw the stalks over, while the wings C C leave the space between the rows clear by pushing the fallen stalks to ward the standing stalks of the next rows. Vhen the machine has passed between two rows of stalks and felled them, it is passed between the next rows of standing stalks, which are cut and thrown down, and so on the machine is passed between every alternate row of stalks. The stalks of one row are in this manner thrown down upon the stalks of the adjacent row, thus leaving spaces between the rows of fallen stalks through which a wagon may travel for gathering np and carrying off the stalks.L The tops of the cane are first cut with the ordinary cane-knife and thrown together in every alternate row, leaving the row in which the cutter runs i'ree of leaves and trash. The stalk of the cane is then cleaned of leaves, and, when cut by the machine in going and returning, is thrown togetherin two rows on the tops, and is thus ready to be hauled to the mill.

Having thus described my invention, what l ,claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In combination with knives (l Z and fenders J J, the double mold-board plow@` and adjust.- able di vi dingwings (l G',substantial ly as spec i fied.

XVM. B. ROBERTSON.

\Vii.11esses:

JNo. H. Marra, lt. H. BURKE. 

